One of the roles of the GSA is to represent and advocate for graduate student interests both on the Carleton campus and within the broader community. This involves the executive sitting on several Carleton committees and boards, including Senate, the Grad Faculty Board, and the Board of Governors, to ensure that the collective grad voice is heard and valued.
Our campaigns are another way we advocate for graduate student interests and students in general. We address issues ranging from post-residency fees and lower tuition to student-worker solidarity, equity, and student union autonomy. The GSA works both independently and in partnership with the Canadian Federation of Students on a number of these issues, as well as on various campaigns and issues that the GSA Council has endorsed. For more information on specific campaigns, please see the drop down menu.
Several of these campaigns are designed and implemented by the GSA Political Action Committee (PAC), which is chaired by the VP External and is open to all students. Most recently, PAC organized a campaign around challenging high tuition fees at Carleton, which included over 1,250 postcards signed by students urging the Board of Governors to vote to freeze tuition. As a result of this campaign, the administration must develop a number of budgets to present to the Board for 2015-2016 that do not include a tuition increase, as well as draft a letter with the GSA to urge the provincial government to provide greater public funding to post-secondary institutions.
If you have any questions, would like to get involved in any of these campaigns, or learn more about PAC, contact [email protected].